1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to software used for modeling and design of interior or exterior spaces.
2. Background and Relevant Art
As computerized systems have increased in popularity, so has the range of applications that incorporate computational technology. Computational technology now extends across a broad range of applications, including a wide range of productivity and entertainment software. Indeed, end users can now find computational technology and related software in a wide range of generic applications that are suited for many environments, as well as fairly industry-specific software.
Some examples of industry-specific application programs include those known as Computer-aided design (i.e., “CAD”) programs, such as AUTOCAD. In general, CAD programs provide a user with the ability to draw lines or blocks (which represent groupings of lines that represent objects) on a CAD user interface, where those lines represent various “design entities” or “design elements” in a plan view of a raw design space. To manage each of the various design entities created through the user interface, CAD programs typically incorporate a record-based database.
In general, the record-based database can also be referred to as a “linear” database, since it includes a set of sequential records whose relationships are based primarily on the sequence/moment in time at which those records were created. For example, when a user creates a line (i.e., a “design entity”) in a CAD user interface, the data related to that line (such as type, position, etc.) are stored in a newly-created “record” in the record-based (linear) database. When a user creates the next line (or circle, etc.) in the CAD user interface, the corresponding linear (or sequential) database creates a new record in the linear database. Since the main relationship between these records is primarily based on sequence, each record includes little or no relation to other records within the database that were created much earlier or later in the sequence.
In addition, CAD programs generally limit the user's ability to layout or specify furniture with only rudimentary geometry-based applications. In conventional geometry-based application programs, the user can place geometric “blocks” representing the product in space, and the application program constrains placement of the block relative to other blocks (representative of other furniture) based solely on the relation of geometric features of each block in a “plan view.” For example, in a conventional design program, a user can use a “plan view” interface of the program to place a work surface block immediately next to a wall panel block. The user can then use corner points, end points, mid-points or similar for proper alignment (i.e., to connect the corner point of the work surface block with the end point of the wall panel block).
Conventional software can also implement sub-routines within the software to automate the location of these blocks in relation to each other's geometric features. Unfortunately, however, there is typically no true product intelligence within conventional geometry-based design software. In most cases, for example, the user will still need to provide information regarding which products may be used together, how those products behave together, and which connection components are required to attach the products together. The often means that the user/designer needs to personally remember every part and piece related to the products placed in the context of the layout. If the user desires to change the elements associated with a block, such change may be laborious, and often requires the user starting the design over from the start.
Furthermore, the representative views that the geometry-based design program provides to the user of the products are typically rudimentary and subject to interpretation. While some application programs may provide three-dimensional views, if they exist at all, such programs typically do not provide such views with the appropriate colors, finishes, materials, shadowing, shading, transparency or reflectivity. Rather, to get such views, a user will often need to initialize or export one view from the geometry-based application to yet another separate rendering software application. Even then, such separate rendering software provides only one view at a time, whereby the user selects a specific viewing angle and then captures that view in a single static image, with applied finishes, materials, shadowing, shading and reflectivity. Thus, the user may still need to manually replicate any change or request in one view to another view in another application, which results in repeat rendering of those additional views. Furthermore, more complicated renderings that could allow a “fly through” navigation-type experience can take conventional rendering applications minutes, hours, or even days to render.
By contrast, there are also now design applications that incorporate non-sequential, three-dimensional (“3D”) relationships for records, such as object-oriented software programs used for design functions. Generally, an object-oriented database represents each entity as an intelligent object block (analogous to a linear database's record). In contrast with the record in a record-based database, which is basically just a collection of data, each object block can be thought of as an independent program of computer-executable instructions in addition to certain user-entered data. The independent, intelligent nature of object entities can enable a wide range of functionality not otherwise available to records or linear databases.
Unfortunately, traditional conventional object-oriented design programs still have other limitations when importing data from linear records since the user will still need to supply finishes, materials, shadowing, shading, and reflectivity with respect to the imported CAD blocks. One such limitation can be due to the otherwise advantages of the object-oriented application itself. For example, if a CAD-based design comprised design choices that were not currently available in inventory (e.g., drawing a blue colored glass table when only black or brown wood grain tables are available), the object-oriented software might not render the user's design as drawn in the CAD program without warning. Alternatively, and also potentially without warning, the object-oriented software might correct the design element to appear in some way not intended by the user.
Accordingly, conventional records-based and object-oriented-based design or rendering programs present a number of issues that can be addressed.